Progressive U Creative Writing

This is a story about a "killer" video game. Enjoy! Its a long one...

THE NIGHTMARE
"DEATH CON ONE! DEATH CON ONE!" A loud siren blared. "ENEMIES ON BASE. ENEMIES ON -" the voice was cut off. I grabbed my M-16 and bolted to the flight deck. There was heavy fire coming from the dark, depraved sky. A plane was engulfed in flames and crashed into the gulf below. Everywhere around me was the thick black smoke spewing from the flames and I could hear the sound of gunfire in the distance.
A dark man in a turban was holding another man hostage. He held the sharp dagger tightly in his hand and stood by the edge of the ship, leaning against the iron rails. The hostage was Bobby Morrison, a tall black soldier in his mid-twenties with short curly hair, who wore a ravaged and torn sailor uniform. His right eye was swollen shut and bruised from torture. "Let him go Achmen!" I screamed.
"I am afraid I can't do that Americans. I hate you! All of you! May Allah damn all of you to Hell!" the man screamed back.
"It doesn't have to end this way!" I tried to negotiate but the man rejected my plea and touched the blade to the soldier's throat. His eyes were red with rage and sweat rolled down his short, twisted beard. The man smiled an evil grin and cackled looking at the blade he held in his hand.
"Oh yes it does," the man violently and quickly slit the throat of his hostage. Then he exploded into laughter as he leaned back and fell into the black water below.
"NOOOOO!!" I screamed as I woke up from my dream.

CHAPTER 1 - THE MEN IN BLACK
Hello, my name is William Gaver. You can just call me Will. I may seem like an ordinary man to you, but things aren’t always as they seem. I have a steady job, a nice house, and a pet parrot named Rico, but Rico isn’t important in this story which I am about to tell you.
It all started back on one cloudy October day. I was sitting at home eating a bowl of Fruit Loops and a banana for breakfast while still in my black pajamas. I was thinking back to my military experience, my nightmare. I had been a U.S Navy Seal for two years and was deployed into the Persian Gulf guarding the U.S. interests there. If anyone told you that war was hell, they didn’t exaggerate believe me.
I would never forget that moment when an Arab terrorist slashed the throat of my best friend in the Navy, Bobby. I could still see the horrific images of that day in my mind like it was yesterday. Bobby’s death right before my eyes has haunted me ever since, especially in my dreams. I just wish that I could have saved him. If only I could go back in time and change the past…
I stared in the spotty bathroom mirror as I picked up my toothbrush. I am of about six feet in height. My black hair was short cut, the bangs spiked up above my bright, green eyes. I had a tattoo of a skull and crossbones ablaze on my right, bulky shoulder.
“Hmm…” I turned my head and rubbed my rugged cheeks. “I need to shave,” I thought to myself.
After I brushed my teeth, I walked across the thick, white carpet of the living room while trimming my beard. Tim was still snoozing on the black, leather sofa. Tim Fisher was a colleague of mine and had been staying at my house until he found a place to live. He was a genius when it came to computers. At college he was known as “Tim the Hacker,” for he almost got expelled for hacking into the mainframe of the school network and changing all his grades to A+s.
The house was still, the only sound being the buzz of my shaver. Rico chirped in his cage as I walked past the living room into my bedroom, his red feathers fluttered as he perched on a wooden rod. I glanced at Tim, a tall, skinny dude with spiked blonde hair and blue eyes. He was drooling like a baby, asleep in his yesterday’s clothes. His black t-shirt read “I’m lying (trust me),” his jeans ripped at the knees. I grinned and just shook my head.
Plaques and photos decorated my dark green bedroom walls. Moose antlers hung above my bed. I pulled a plain white t-shirt over my head and slipped on a pair of blue jeans.
I finally grabbed my keys and headed out the door in the light drizzle of rain, the tall skyscrapers of Los Angeles on the horizon. I peeled out in my green Ford Mustang and went to work. I grumbled at the slow traffic and zoomed to a red streetlight.
I looked up to see a rather odd billboard with two kids staring at a television screen and read, “Violent Video Games are Destroying Kids Lives!” I chuckled at this sight and took off as soon as the light blinked green.
I was the owner of Gaver’s Blockbusters, a video rental store in the city. While there I took home a DVD, free of course. “Cyber Shock” was a movie I have never seen before and I remembered the commercials for it were wicked- monsters in computer games come to life and kill a bunch of people…sweet! It was supposed to be a really creepy movie and since Halloween was in a couple weeks I thought it would be fun.
“Mr. Gaver, a Ms. Con wants to speak with you,” claimed one of my clients right before I walked out the store, a scrawny young man with short brown hair.
“Tell her to call later. I’m busy.” I wasn’t really, but I just wanted to hurry home to watch the movie.
When I got home it was already dark and the crescent of the moon shone brilliantly in the sky. I crept up to the red bricked house. I peeked in the window to see Tim sitting in the kitchen checking his email on his laptop. He was wearing a green hooded sweatshirt with black trip pants, the chains dragging the ground.
I closed the door behind me without making a sound and tip-toed into the kitchen. Tim picked up a cup of hot cappuccino that was sitting on the white veneer counter.
He stared at the screen with concernment, not knowing I was standing there next to him. My arms were crossed, my feet slightly spread apart, planted firmly on the cold, hardwood floor as I watched. Tim took a small sip of his drink and set it back down. I glanced over his shoulder to see what he was looking at, but he quickly deleted it as soon as he saw me. “Hey Will!” he smiled.
"I brought home a movie,” I said with excitement, holding up the DVD case in my hand.
"Pop it in!" Tim replied. I scuttled into the living room and turned the television on. However, when I put the disc in the player a black screen showed up on the TV with millions of numbers scrolling up like the ending credits, all zeros and ones. “What the hell?” shouted Tim.
“Shut up, it’s just a reject,” I stated coolly. Nevertheless, I knew something was terribly wrong but I tried to blow it off.
“Those look like stolen computer codes to me. Give it here,” Tim demanded, so I took it back out and gave it to him. Tim slid the disc in his laptop computer and tried to decipher the code. “It’s a message.”
“What does it say?” I asked.
He hesitated slightly, “It’s in Japanese I can't read it. I’ll have to translate it.”
“A message in Japanese? Hmm… could be a black market thing or something, but I doubt it. Go ahead, but something fishy is going on around here,” I responded as the phone rang. “Hello.”
“Good evening Mr. Gaver. This is Ms. Lizzy Con of the FBI.”
“The FBI! Must be something serious! How can I help you?”
“We think you might be in danger,” she firmly stated.
Meanwhile Tim strolled back into the kitchen.
“Danger?!” I muttered dumbfounded. “Danger from what?”
There was no response.
“Hello!” I yelled in the phone hearing nothing, not even a dial tone coming from the phone, just complete silence. “She hung up on me!”
Tim comes back in the living room with one of those chocolate Swiss rolls. The chocolate stuck in between his teeth as he took another bite.
“Don’t worry. They’ll probably be here soon. It will take a while for the message to translate so in the meantime I will be at work,” he smirked in a cocky tone. Then Tim left with haste into the dark moonlit night.
“Work? Tim doesn’t have a job… at least not that I know of,” I thought baffled.
Again, the house was quiet. Even Rico stopped chirping. I turned the television back on and watched the local news. “Violence from the media, especially video games, are to blame for increased aggressive behavior in children.”
My eyes grew heavy, and before I knew it, I was out.
I woke up from the humming of a black car pulled up in the driveway. I opened the door to greet the agents, but instead of the FBI, four men in black jumped out. They wore black ski masks to cover their faces.
“Hey, you’re not the FBI,” I shouted.
Then one of the men spoke with an Asian accent, “Mr. Gaver, I presume.”
How did they know my name? I was speechless as they walked up to my porch. I studied the men as they pulled out baseball bats and nunchakus. “You have something that is ours,” the man in black said.
I glimpsed back inside and slammed the door. I examined the living room for anything I could use as a weapon. Tim’s laptop beeped and I glanced at the message. It read, “These are the plans for E-Corp’s most ultimate weapon.” As I was beginning to scroll down the front door was rammed opened. I closed the message and grabbed a vase, smashing it on one of the men’s head. From the look of them, they were highly trained in martial arts as they twirled their nunchakus roguishly.
“Evil psycho ninjas?! What a day!” I chuckled.
One of the ninjas swung a baseball bat, missed, and I roundhouse kicked him in the face. The other ninja grabbed the coffee table and pummeled me with it, sending me to the ground. The glass shattered on the carpet and flew into my hair.
"Foolish American," the man in black said as he struck me hard in the face with a pair of nunchakus. Suddenly everything went dark...

CHAPTER 2 – OUT OF THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE TERMINAL
"Wake up!" shouted one of the ninjas. I instantly opened my eyes. "Where is the disc?" the ninja demanded as he grabbed my shirt. "Where is it?!"
"What are you talking about?" I lied.
"Stupid American slime!" he said as he pushed me back to the ground.
I looked around. The room was dark with no windows and large machinery surrounded me all around. I looked ahead to see a small poster by a huge, packaging press that read, “L.A. Dairy Safety Guidelines.” The abandoned L.A. cheese factory… what were these guys up to?
"Don't play stupid with me! That disc contains valuable information and you stole it from us. We found out that you took it. So hand it over to us, now!" Finally, the man turned away for a second after his radio went off. “He’s not talking, sir.”
I came up from behind and wrapped my arms around his neck. He gagged and elbowed me in the chest, but soon he was unconscious. Then I dragged the ninja off where he couldn't be seen and took his pistol on his belt. I didn’t know why a crazy, evil ninja would be carrying a gun, but nothing else seemed to make much sense either. I snuck around trying not to be seen by the others who were loitering by the conveyer belt, and finally reached the front door of the building.
"Stop!" someone bellowed at me from above before I touched the brass handle. My heart started to beat faster and louder. I turned my head to see another masked man glaring at me. My eyes widened as he pulled out a Tommy gun and aimed it right at my chest. Acting on impulse, I quickly drew the pistol and shot the ninja in the arm.
The loud gunshot echoed throughout the building and made my ears ring. I turned to the large, rusted, double wide doors and sprinted out into the dark, starry night, never looking back. “Argh! The American is getting away!”
Out of the blue, a black Camaro screeched to a stop on the side of the street in front of me. "Get in!" the women driver shouted. As we peeled out as a spray of bullets were shot through the back window. “Duck down!” The woman returned fire with her pistol, shooting one of the ninjas in the head that was standing on the roof. I was pretty impressed.
"Man where have you been my entire life baby?" I asked the woman.
"You're in a lot of trouble, bud. The name's Lizzy Con, FBI." she stated as she flashed her badge. Lizzy Con had long, blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail, blue eyes, a very slim body, was a little shorter than I was, and was wearing a black FBI jacket. From the looks of her, she was in her mid twenties. She had a couple of those small, diamond earrings that sparkled in her ears and a small scar on her right hand. She grinned weakly at me and stared back at the road.
“Oh Ms. Con! About time! So why did I get ambushed by psycho ninjas, huh?”
“Yes, yes I know. I’ll tell you everything in due time, but you wouldn’t understand it right now. It is a very confidential and serious issue.”
“A little bit of a warning could have helped. So why did you hang up on me?”
“What are you talking about? You hung up on me!” she strictly stated.
“That’s weird! Anyway, I’m William Gaver,” I introduced.
“Yes, I know Mr. Gaver.”
“You can just call me Will.”
“Understood Mr. Will Gaver.”
“Just Will…” I chuckled. “So how did that happen?” I pointed to her right hand.
“What, that I’m not married? That’s a long story,” she laughed. “My fiancé was a drunken loser. Besides that he cheated on me for some stupid hooker.”
“I’m sorry to hear that… Well a pretty lady like you should be, but I was wondering about that small scar right there.”
Upon hearing this she quickly tucked it under her jacket. “You’re not my type,” she muttered coldly.
Just then, my cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"Will, where the heck are you?"
"Oh Tim, thank God it's you. You might think I'm crazy but I've just been kidnapped by evil ninjas. You have got to make a fake copy of that DVD they are looking for."
"Will, I would have but it’s too late. The disc is gone."
"What! What happened?"
"They said they would kill me if I told."
"The police, what are they saying?"
"Um…the police were behind it too. You weren't the only one kidnapped by crazy ninjas. They're talking about taking me to Japan to finish their plan or something like that. Just don’t try to rescue me, okay. Oh oh - gotta go!" CLICK.
“He’s hiding something…” I said.
“That’s odd. If he was captured, how would he be able to call you?”
“I don’t know. Nothing is making much sense. They are definitely at the airport because I heard jet engines in the background,” I stated.
Lizzy does a U-turn and begins speeding up. "Where are you taking us?" I asked.
"We are going to save your friend," Agent Lizzy responded. “Buckle up!” Without hesitation she zoomed past the heavy traffic, passing them on the shoulder of the interstate highway. We finally stopped at the L.A. Airport, which was huge by the way. "Watch your back," Lizzy whispered as she hurried to the terminal carrying a small black briefcase.
“What’s in the case? Plastic explosives? Really cool spyware?” I asked with curiosity. I raised my eyebrow and smiled.
“No silly! It’s my laptop. You never know when you might need it.”
The corridors seemed to go on forever. Even if Tim was here, spotting him in the mast, bustling crowd seemed impossible.
“DING! ALL PASSENGERS TO TOKYO SHOULD BOARD FLIGHT NUMBER 148 AT THIS TIME. THANK YOU.” The voice echoed from above. I asked a ticket holder where this plane was, and we rushed through the heavy mob of people. I looked out of the glass wall and stared at the large white plane that was heading toward Tokyo.
Then I saw the ninjas, unmasked and in proper attire, wearing black suits and ties. Tim was with them. However, Tim was unusually calm as he got on the plane with the thugs. "Let's go," she whispered. We went through the door that read, “RESTRICTED. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY” in bolded red letters, and raced down the flight of stairs to the cargo hold.
A young man stopped us. “This is a restricted area. Only authorized personnel are allowed,” he stated.
Agent Lizzy pulled out her badge, "FBI." Then, we dashed towards the plane and leaped in the cargo hold before the plane took off.
“Man! What a rush!” I exclaimed out of breath. The engine of the plane hummed in the background. The cargo hold was very dim and I could barely see Agent Con across the room.
"So, what was so important about the disc?" I asked. Agent Lizzy stood up, came over and sat down next to me. "Tokyo, Japan here we come. Get some rest...it's going to be a long flight," Lizzy said as she leaned back on a blue duffle bag.
"How can I get any sleep when I don't know what the hell is going on!" I yelled angrily.
"Shh! Why do you think that DVD was in your store? It didn't just happen on accident you know. We thought a Navy Seal like you could keep it safe,” she whispered.
"How do you know I’m a Navy Seal?" I asked.
"I know all about you Will,” Lizzy whispered.
“Well then, tell me about you. ‘Cause I don’t know all about you baby.” I smirked.
Lizzy just rolled her eyes and changed the subject. "If you really want to know what is going on, then listen up! The disc they wanted contains plans to a fear none of us has ever experienced, the creation of a virtual reality game that is so real, it kills. If you lose while playing this game you’re finished for good. They are going to use your friend, Tim, to help them program it. It will be the new weapon of mass destruction, and the scary part is that it is going to be on the market just like any other video game, even little kids will play it. More than likely, millions of people are gonna die."
“I think you’ve watched too many sci-fi movies, girl. Everyone knows that being fully immersed into cyberspace is just a fairy tale. Nice try,” I snickered.
“Why would I be making this up? I don’t understand it either, but nothing is impossible, you hear me?” Agent Con spoke in a serious tone as she gazed into my eyes.
"Okay… I suppose your telling the truth. What's the plan?" I asked.
Agent Lizzy continued, "We find out who is behind all of this and we destroy the game before they finish it. It's not going to be easy, though. We need to work fast if you want your friend to live. Otherwise, as soon as they’re done with him I’m afraid he won’t be needed anymore, and when that happens, its game over."
I was wide awake the whole flight staying alert. I wondered why they would kidnap Tim and take him all the way to Japan. How could anyone be “sucked in” into a computer game? It was all beyond my comprehension, mind-boggled by such an uncanny idea. It just didn’t make sense.
CHAPTER 3 - ALIVE IN TOKYO
"Wake up, we're landing." I said to Lizzy. After the plane landed, the cargo hold opened and we both ran out ignoring the attendants. We waited until the thugs walked out behind Tim. Tim, still in his green hoody and black pants he left in, carried his laptop case in his hand and had a deviant grin on his face. We closely followed behind them, staying far enough back so they wouldn’t spot us.
The city engulfed me in awe. The tall skyscrapers looming overhead; the rising sun beamed through the streets. The traffic was terribly slow during the morning rush hour. We followed the men through the sea of people down into the subway. One of the ninjas went into the restroom so I quickened my pace.
"What are you doing?" Lizzy asked as she stood in front of me.
“Trust me… I know what I’m doing,” I answered, pushing her aside and hurrying to the restroom.
“You’re a real jerk! You know that?!” She hollered as I flung the bathroom door open.
The ninja was at the urinal with no other people around. As soon as he turned his head I punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Who are you working for? Tell me!" I yelled as I squeezed my hands around his throat. The ninja spitted at me, "I spit in your face you stupid American!"
That made my blood boil. I was sick of this hatred toward my own country. "Fine." I threw him against the sink and knee kicked him in the stomach three times as hard as I could.
"STOP! Mishigoto! Mishigoto! He is the man you want."
I struck him with another right punch to the face, knocking the guy out cold. "That was easy." A large, gray haired man came in and stared at the ninja on the ground. "Had too much to drink," I sighed and pointed to the ninja with my thumb as I marched out in victory.
Lizzy was waiting for me by the water fountain, "Will, they saw us and got away!"
"No need to worry. I got some information from one of those idiots. We need to find Mishigoto. He must be the man behind this."
"Cool! Maybe I can find information of Mr. Mishigoto on the internet," agent Lizzy said as she pulled out her sleek and compact laptop computer out of the briefcase. "Hmm...That’s interesting." She said after a few minutes went by.
"What?" I asked.
Lizzy looked up at me and swiftly swiveled her head back to the computer "He's one of the top executives of E-Corp. Let's go!"
“Did you just say E-Corp? That was in the message.”
“What message?”
“The message on the disc. It said ‘These are the plans to E-Corp’s most ultimate weapon.’”
The train screeched to a stop and the glass doors opened, hundreds of folk pouring in and out like flood water through the gates. We took the subway to downtown Tokyo. It was crowded by lots of people, barely any room to breathe.
“Isn’t E-Corp one of the top manufacturers of electronics around the globe?” I continued.
"Correct! I've got to give you some credit. I couldn't do this mission without your help," Lizzy said to me.
"Same here. We make a good team, baby!" I snickered.
"I'm not your baby,” Lizzy said angrily.
We were both silent, standing next to each other, the smell of her perfume lingered in my nose. Agent Con showed no emotion on her serious face. My stomach started to growl and I haven’t slept for more than thirty hours. I couldn’t keep my eyes open for any longer and my head fell on Lizzy’s shoulder.
“Pevert!” She shouted at me and pushed me away. I fell down on the floor, my eyes heavy as anvils.
“Sorry… you must be very tired,” she apologized, lifting back up to my feet. The train halted and we were overwhelmed by the stampede of the great multitude of people. I staggered to a small wooden bench outside.
“Let’s go get you some coffee and a bite to eat. You’re exhausted.” Lizzy said to me sweetly.

CHAPTER 4 – THE TWENTY SECOND FLOOR
“So, how long have you been a federal agent?” I asked across the table at a Japanese coffee shop.
“Three years,” Agent Con answered. “Ever since I got out of college. What made you decide to join the Navy?”
“I wanted to make my folks proud. My dad was big on the army, a very patriotic and respectful man. It was also a way to pay for college. He was murdered by the Al Queda ten years ago. They executed him for espionage. I wanted revenge.”
“I’m so sorry Will,” Lizzy’s voice rasped.
“You have nothing to be sorry about Ms. Con. I’m the one who needs to apologize. I have treated you with disrespect ma’am. I’m a terrible sinner. I’ve killed many people without any remorse. I try not to cuss anymore, but I used to be a sailor, so it’s a challenge for me to control my tongue all the time.”
“I forgive you Mr. Gaver,” Lizzy gripped my rough hands and stared into my eyes as she listened attentively.
“I’m just curious… How did you get that cut on your hand?”
“It wasn’t just a cut. It was a wound from a switchblade. I don’t feel like talking about it right now.”
“Okay… That’s cool I guess…”
“The E-Corp corporate building is only a couple blocks away,” she murmured, staring through the window beside us.
"We need guns before we go in there," I said watching cars go by. I knew that it would be dangerous and we needed to be prepared for anything. "There!" I pointed at a Japanese weapon shop across the street.
"Your nuts!" Lizzy said.
"At times of war you gotta do what you gotta do. Believe me, Ms. Con, this is war!"
Lizzy shook her head and followed me across the street.
We walked in the shop greeted by the man behind the counter, "Konichiwa." He was a very burly guy with short, black hair and small beady eyes. He had a short goatee and wore baggy green pants and a red muscle shirt, his left ear pierced with a silver hook.
I pulled out a couple one hundred dollar bills, "Where is your good stuff?"
"Ahh...American money is very good here. You two are Americans? I show you some of our finest products. Come here in the back!" He waved at us as he walked back to a large vault, pressed a few numbers, and opened it to reveal a hidden room full of extremely dangerous weapons like rocket and grenade launchers, machine guns, automatic crossbows, etc. “You might have to have a little more than two hundred to purchase this bad boy,” he chuckled holding a triple barreled, automatic shotgun. “They don’t make these anymore. You can’t find another extraordinary firearm like this anywhere else.”
“Nah… Got any silencers?”
“Of course we do! You came to the right place.”
Before we knew it, we came out of the shop with a large duffle bag full of stuff: two silencers, one flash bomb, one small pistol, a pair of heat vision binoculars, an AK-47 rifle, and a single barreled shotgun.
"Let's roll!" I exclaimed to Lizzy. We quickly walked into the E-Corp corporate building, the moonlight reflecting off of the windows, and we are stopped by a security guard. Lizzy flashed her badge, but the security guard didn’t go for it.
"What are Americans doing here in Tokyo?" the security guard asked, but I thumped him in the head before he could finish his sentence. Lizzy raised her eyebrow at me as I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. We continued to the customer service desk by the front door.
"Excuse me?" I said to the lady behind the counter with long black hair pulled back in a bun. "Mishigoto?" I asked.
"Ahh... You have an appointment with Mr. Mishigoto? His office is on the twenty second level - office two two six." she responded.
We strolled to the elevator and took it to the twenty-second floor.
“You ready Lizzy!” I exclaimed with a big grin.
Lizzy glared at me with those captivating blue eyes. She loaded her magazine into her gun with a click. Then for the first time I saw her smile contentedly at me.
“Ready when you are,” she hollered.

CHAPTER 5 – THE GAME
Ding! The elevator door slid open and one of the men stopped and stared at me. I recognized him as one of the ninjas that broke into my house. His face was hard as stone, his eyes squinted mischievously as he stood in the middle of the hall, wearing a black sports coat and slacks, his feet slightly spread apart.
"Mr. Gaver?! We meet again!” The man shouted and pulled out a long katana with a golden inscription on the blade. He charged at me but I twisted his arm and roundhouse kicked him. Lizzy shot him in the back with the silencer gun and I dragged him into an empty office chair.
“Sleep tight.”
We marched down the long hallway side by side. The hall was empty, not a single soul except me and Agent Con, our boots scuffling on the hard, white tile as we cautiously checked each room before continuing until we finally reached office number 226. I took a deep breath, my heart pounding in my chest as I turned the knob and flung the door open.
"Konichiwa!" greeted Mr. Mishigoto. He was a frail old man with an ugly scar on his right cheek, and couldn't have weighed more than a hundred pounds. However, four thugs were guarding him with large Tommy guns. "I've been expecting you Mr. Will Gaver," he said with a wide grin. "If you have come to stop me you are too late."
"Where is Tim!?" I screamed angrily.
"Your friend? Ha ha! Oh he’s fine. Why he helped me finish my new and amazing product! He didn't want to do it at first though, but when we told him what we would do to his friends, he gave in. Hahahahaha! Sorry, but that isn’t how it is boy! Tim isn’t your friend dimwit. He works for me.”
“You’re a lying bastard!” I screamed back. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! Tim was a spy all along?! My head was spinning. Everything seemed to be happening so fast.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk… All of you Americans are the same. They overlook the truth even though it’s staring them straight in the face. One thing I cannot tolerate is foul mouthed cretins like yourself. Speak again and I’ll slice off your tongue and feed it to the dogs! Hahaha!”
“You’re a madman! Don’t you realize that many innocent people are going to die because of your arrogance?” Lizzy cried.
“Silence! No one is innocent little girl! Ha ha ha! Finally, the entire world will suffer for its lack of vision and I’ll be no longer under anyone! I will soon be the one in control! This is my most ultimate creation and you will be the first to die! Take them away!"
As the ninjas were taking us away, we both winked at each other. Then Lizzy kicked one of the machine guns out of the ninjas hand right into mine. I blasted all four ninjas away before any of them had a chance. Lizzy grabbed a pistol from the duffle bag and aimed it towards Mishigoto. She shot one round, shattering the window behind him. Yet, Mishigoto didn't even flinch.
"You're a fool!" Mishigoto shouted as he faded away with a hysterical cackle.
"A hologram?" I said surprised. Lizzy wandered behind the desk and fell down a trap door screaming.
"Lizzy!" I yelled as I jumped down after her with the duffle bag across my shoulder. I slid down through a large chute and ended up in a large bright room with a bunch of computers, ninjas, and...Tim?!
Tim's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "Will?! What the hell are you doing here?!"
Everything in the room was white. Even the ninjas were dressed in white uniforms. We were overwhelmed by the men for there were too many of them, at least a dozen. They held me down and took away all my weapons.
"Put the helmets on them," Mishigoto smirked evilly. "I have some money to make."
They strapped Lizzy down and put a large steel helmet on her head with hundreds of sharp needles protruding out. Luckily, the ninjas forgot to search my pant pockets which I hid a flash bomb. That was exactly what I needed. I pulled the pin and chucked that sucker.
"Close your eyes!" I yelled to Tim. A great flash and bang occurred and I and Tim fight the dazed ninjas. I took the AK 47 from the duffle bag and tossed it to Tim. Meanwhile, I snatched the good old fashion shotgun and peppered them until they were all down. I glanced around for Mr. Mishigoto, but he escaped again.
All of the ninjas were on the ground, the blood pooling beneath their bodies. The sight sickened me and reminded me of the horrifying memories of war, but the only thing that I was thinking of was Lizzy. I ran over to her and shook her.
"Lizzy!" I yelled at her, but she doesn't respond. "Tim, is she-"
"No, she's in the game," Tim stated.
"I'm going in," I said.
"You're insane! You don't know how the game works,” Tim pleaded.
"Trust me, you stay here and try to find a way to stop it," I told him.
Tim nods his head in agreement, "Okay man. Be careful."
"GAME ON!" I yelled as I slid on the helmet.

CHAPTER 6 - LEVEL ONE
The air was freezing and I opened my eyes. I was in a thick spacesuit and the land around me was dark and void. A large rocky mountain glowed behind me.
"Where the hell am I?" I whispered to myself.
I knew from the get-go that this was nuts. I never was a big gamer. In fact I never played a video game since I was a kid playing “Space Invaders” and “Duck Hunt” on the old school Nintendo.
I looked at my surroundings in awe. Everything seemed so real. I was wearing a red helmet with a face shield and wielded a large photon gun. "I'm coming Lizzy."
I started climbing the tall mountain when suddenly a mass of horrendous, black creatures resembling that of two legged scorpions poured out of the crater. "Oh my God!" I yelled and started running backwards. I pulled the trigger of the photon gun which shot a large blue beam towards the mountain. I flew backwards and landed on my back. The laser beam struck almost to the peak of the mountain and a massive rumble occurred. This created a massive rockslide that engulfed most of the creatures. I stared at the rocks crumbling down with a blank expression on my face. "Sweet."
"Will... Will... do you copy?" Tim's voice echoed in my head.
"Tim? ...but how?" I said looking around frantically.
"I hooked up a mic so we could keep in contact. Will... I'm so sorry of what has happened."
"Don't worry about it man."
"No! You don't understand. I've worked with Mishigoto before. Not only did his thugs come for the disc but for his best programmer he ever had. I wanted to tell you earlier. I am one of the bad guys Will."
"What?!"
"I am so sorry I deceived you all this time. I was sent here to find that disc which was stolen almost ten years ago. It was the only part missing to make the ultimate game, but it still isn't totally finished yet. The game still has some loop holes and quite a few glitches that I know of. The police weren’t behind it either. I lied about that too. They didn’t hang up Will. I cut the phone line. I am so sorry... I didn't know what I was getting myself into."
"What- creating a game that kills people?" I screamed angrily.
"I didn't have a choice Will. They would have killed not only me but you and that other girl that was with you too. Hopefully you will forgive me."
"How can I possibly forgive you? This is all your fault that I'm in this sticky situation. Damn you Tim!" I screamed and shook my fist violently towards the dark, starry sky. I couldn’t believe Tim was using me all this time.
"I... I... um... understand. Even so, I'm going to help you get through this. This is the first level of the game. Have you ever played Metroid before Will?"
"What's Metroid?" I asked with curiosity.
"What about Halo?"
"Huh?"
"You kidding me? Well, anyway the jist of this level is to destroy all alien life forms. Beat the boss and you beat this level. See that mountain that you just blasted a while ago... That is where you need to go to save your girl. Be careful. It is full of acid and any hole in your suit will mean death because of the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere. So... what are you waiting for?"
I glanced at the glowing mountain, "This is nuts!" I sprinted up the mountain shooting almost constantly at the black alien things crawling up out of the crater. The only thing I was thinking of was saving Lizzy, of seeing her beautiful eyes and wonderful smile, hearing her sweet voice, the way she rolled her eyes when I called her baby. I was infatuated of course, but it was almost like I have known her forever... or maybe it was because I could never bear to lose another friend like I did Bobby.
I finally made it to the top and looked down into the crater. It was full of glowing hot acid just like Tim said. The uncovered ground was like a maze, twisting and turning to the center where there was a tall white door. I went down to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.
"Will... you have to beat the mini- boss before you can enter," abruptly said Tim.
"Roger! But where is the mini-boss?"
"LOOK OUT!"
A fiery red dragon emerged from the acid. Its teeth were razor sharp and it growled a low tremor that shook the ground. I started shooting at it hastily. However, the fiend appeared unaffected by my photon rays. The dragon breathed massive, scorching balls of fire and hurled it towards me. I dodged the blasts of inferno by zigzagging up and down the maze. The dragon then flew back down into the glowing acid and disappeared from my sight.
"Behind You!" Tim’s holler echoed in my head. I glanced around swiftly.
The dragon came from behind, catching me off guard. The beast snatched me up with its gargantuan cyber claws. I was going to be cyber crunched if I didn’t think of something fast. Then I thought of it. Every enemy has a weakness, and this dragon was no exception.
I charged up my photon gun the entire way. “Eat this!” I shouted at the dragon. As soon as the computer-generated creature opened its mouth, I shot a full blast down its throat and blew the creature to smithereens.
I went soaring up high in the air. "Oh my God!" I screamed as I was about to fall in the boiling hot acid below.
"Press the button on your back quick!" Tim quickly yelled. I instantly flung my hands behind my back and pressed the button. Only a few feet from my doom, I closed my eyes, but nothing happened.
I felt a boost of energy and my stomach lurched. When I finally opened my eyes again I found myself towering above the peak. I then realized I had a jetpack on. I was relieved. Still breathing hard, I lowered myself slowly to the door and turned the jetpack off. Then I opened the door and walked into the next area. I knew Lizzy was in there… somewhere. She had to be. The door slammed shut behind me.

CHAPTER 7 - LIONS, TIGERS, AND ALIENS?
I didn’t know where I was. Everything seemed so dark. Then, suddenly my surroundings came in to focus. All around me were large and bizarre machines that shot laser beams back and forth. I took a deep breath and blasted the switch on the far end. Simultaneously a loud siren echoed and the laser defense system shuts down.
“Nice!” stated Tim.
More alien scum came around the corner only to taste my photon beams and disintegrated into thin air. After I marched through the large corridors and destroyed all the enemies I continued on to what seemed like the aliens’ nest. I dared not to shoot at the levitating sacs of eggs and opened a latch mechanism on a large steel door with a click.
Without warning, an unexpected screech comes from behind me. I abruptly swivel my head. The eggs were hatching!
Then I did exactly what I shouldn’t have done – I panicked. I charged up my photon gun and shot a full blast of a blue ray towards the eggs. KABOOM! The ground shook violently and the entire nest, thousands of infant aliens, viciously ripped open their prisons and pursued me.
I grabbed the steel door and raised it over my head. There was a smelting factory on the other side with huge machines pouring hot liquid metal into molds. I skidded to the great industrial room and slammed the door down and locked it before any of the hideous creatures caught up to me.
“Will!?” someone hollered from above. My eyes swiftly looked up. It was Lizzy! She was in a space suit like mine except hers was blue and I could tell that she was scared and miserable.
“Will, be on the look out for the mother alien. She is lurking somewhere in this room. Keep your eyes peeled,” Tim said.
“Roger!” I smirked.
Meanwhile Lizzy sprinted to a ladder and climbed down friskily. “What the hell are doing here!” She started to run towards me. However, something in my brain sensed that something was wrong.
“Don’t come any closer,” I ordered as I charged up my gun.
Lizzy stopped, dumbfounded. “Will…it’s me. You don’t remember me? Lizzy Con?”
I glanced around but there was nothing except pools of hot metal. Then I looked up…
The ferocious Queen was about twenty times my size, an ugly black beast with razor sharp claws and teeth. It crawled on the ceiling like a spider and its massive, glowing red eyes gleamed at me. I blast at it, sending me on my back on the conveyer belt.
BOOM!
The Queen shrieked as she, with large chunks of rock and metal, plunged down onto the floor. Lizzy was scared stiff as the creature scurried to its feet and towered over her.
“Hey! Over here!” I shouted and shot it right in the eye. The Queen growled and then focused all of her attention to me. “Uh oh.”
The Queen alien lunged into the air and with one giant leap she landed on the conveyer belt. The alien moved closer, ripping the pipes and climbing over the machine presses...
Lizzy raced across to the machine operating controls for the crane and swings a bucket of lead over. The creature was caught off guard and was knocked off by the crane into the pit of hot molten metal below. I stared down at the smoking pool of hot metal - the beast let out a howl and vanished.
I slid off the conveyer belt and dashed towards Lizzy. “You did it!”
“We did it!” Lizzy opened her arms and started crying though her helmet with joy. Just as we were about to wrap our arms around each other an immense, bright green portal appeared above us and sucked us both in like a black hole.

CHAPTER 8 – DOWN IN CHINATOWN
My face was pressed on hard asphalt. “Will… Come in Will. …… HELLO-O!!” Tim barked in my ear.
I stand up and gazed at my surroundings. Tall skyscrapers loomed above me. I was on a city street and computer generated people were walking past without concern. All of them had blank expressions on their faces and walked straight like they were in a military drill. Gigantic plasma television screens were installed on a street corner. CNN news was on:
“New York crime rate has gone up more than ten times this year due to the violent gang wars that has been going on between the NYPD and the ninja clan that call themselves the Tora Aku, which in Japanese means ‘Evil Tigers.’ Please stay away from this group. Do not try to be a hero, call the police. The Tora Aku are considered armed and highly dangerous. …back to you Todd.”
Okay, now I know that I’m in a computer generated New York City. I look around for Lizzy, but she wasn’t there.
“Where’s Lizzy?” I muttered to myself.
“Hmm…” Tim answered. “I can’t find her either Will. You’ll have to search for her the old fashion way.”
“That’ll take forever! New York is huge!”
“Suck it up! I know you can do it. Just watch out for the ninjas.”
“Joy. Now I have to deal with them in cyberspace too,” I grumbled.
So I start going in building by building searching for Lizzy. I had no luck and the replicated sun had already vanished on the horizon.
I sat down on a city bench and rest. A scraggly, black haired bum sat on the stoop of an abandoned apartment gawking at me. Suddenly, a young cyber lady screamed. I instantly looked to my right to see a person dressed in black wearing a black mask, running off with the lady’s sparkling blue purse. The thief ran towards me and I couldn’t help but stick my foot out and trip him.
The bandit bounced back up and pulled out a pair of sai, a ninja weapon with a three pronged blade like a fork. “You a fool to mess with Tora Aku! Aiyee yeyeyeyeye!”
The crook charged at me but I dodged his blow and twisted his arm. The ninja roundhouse kicked me and threw me against a car, smashing the front windshield. Then for the first time I felt virtual reality pain. It was all too real; I could barely breathe and held my leg that was throbbing. The ninja threw the sai in his left hand at me. I rolled off the car just in time and it missed. The weapon went through the windshield and stuck halfway through the car’s front seat.
The ninja jumped on top of the car like a tiger hunting for its prey. I jerked the sai out, ripping the foam out of the seat. A hand armed with spiked brass knuckles penetrated the roof of the car and fiercely pulled me out. The ninja grabbed a hold of my neck and pulled his right arm back that wielded the weapon.
We clashed with each others blade and the ninja’s sai flew out of his hand when I drop kicked him. Then I held him down with the sai’s blade touching his throat. “It’s too bad you won’t be around to tell your buddies to watch out for the Will Gaver who just kicked your butt. I don’t care if I have to kill every one of you to find Lizzy. I’m your worst nightmare.”
“We’ll just see about that!” The ninja threw a smoke bomb and in a flash he was gone.
I gave the purse back to the lady and in return she gave me a clue. “Oh I heard from the grapevine that there is a secret Tora Aku meeting tonight at the old Chinatown museum at midnight.”
Then the bum came over that was stalking me and gave me a map of the city. “You’ll need this.”
“Taxi!” I yelled out to a yellow cab. “To Chinatown,” I said to the driver.
When I got there I was surprised to see nobody on the streets anymore. The buildings all seemed abandoned for years. The walls were painted with graffiti and the windows were all boarded up. The driver stopped. “Here we are sir, Chinatown… at least it was until them Tora Aku showed up. You owe forty two dollars and sixty cents.”
“I don’t have any money.”
“Then GET OUT!” The driver screamed and zoomed off as soon as I shut the door.
I waited at the old building and stayed alert. I thought of Lizzy. I had to find her. But where could she be.
I walked into the old museum and patiently waited. “It could be a trap…” I thought.
Then I heard voices. I hid in the bathroom quietly eavesdropping on what was going on outside. I cracked the door opened slightly and watched hundreds of ninjas gather in the main hall.
“Now shall commence the Tora Aku gathering. We will finally take entire control of the city tonight. We will destroy New York; we will save it. Your country would be proud,” said a large and gruffly old man with a long white goatee.
I snuck closer to better understand what the men were saying. I accidentally tipped an ancient Chinese pot and it crashed onto the floor.
“What was that?” a ninja murmured. He ran over to check it out and I clothes lined him to the ground. He got back up at the speed of lightning and roundhouse kicked me into a statue of Buddha. More enemies joined in and I was eventually captured.
“Ah… I knew I smelt a rat! I can’t stand spies,” said the old man. “Who sent you?”
“…no one. I came by myself,” I replied.
“Liar!”
“Hey I know you!” I pointed to the ninja who stole the women’s purse. “I kicked your butt remember?” I laughed.
“You work for the police don’t you?”
“Well… I am in the Navy,” I snickered.
“Shut up!” he barked. “Kill him,” he ordered to the congregation.
“Oh yeah, I see how it is. All you do is boss people around and they do your dirty work for you like your some kind of dictator. Why don’t ya face me like a man you big chicken,” I teased.
“Wait… let me kill him instead.” Slowly he turned around and drew two katanas, one in each hand.
I closed my eyes tight as the man swung the blade at my chest.
“No!” a woman’s voice screamed. Blades clang against each other inches away from my face. The voice sounded so familiar to me. Could it be… Lizzy?
My eyes popped open and Lizzy was standing beside me in a black cloak.
“He is too important to us,” Lizzy shouted.
“But he’s a spy, a disgrace to mankind!” the man stated.
“You may be right, but you don’t need to kill him. Throw him in the abandoned jailhouse instead.”
The man nodded his head and I was dragged off into the starry night

CHAPTER 9 – THE NINJA MELTDOWN
I sat all alone in the cold, dark cell. The windows were barred and an icy breeze blew through the room. Lizzy saved my life, no doubt to that. Yet I still could not believe that she was on the Tora Aku’s side. What was she thinking? Didn’t she know that they were the bad guys?
Suddenly footsteps approached and I glanced up to see Lizzy. “Hey baby!”
“Shh. I’m busting you out.” She unlocked the gate and freed me. Then I gave her a big hug. “Will… your chocking me,” her voice rasped.
We tiptoed past the ninja guards and I searched for a car that wasn’t locked. Lizzy smashed the window of a blue minivan and unlocked it. We smiled at each other and we drove off in it after I hotwired it.
“So where do we need to go?” I asked.
“We need to go to the nuclear power plant. The leader is going to blow up New York if we don’t stop him.”
“It’s good to see you two together again Will,” said Tim. “I wish that I could take you guys out right now, but the only way to get out of the game is to beat it, which is almost impossible but there is a glitch in this level that can warp you to the final level. Jump on top of the main reactor to get to the warp point. You’re going to make it. I know you will.”
I turned to Lizzy. “Thanks. You saved my life back there.”
“That’s what friends are for, right?”
“Yea… You’re a very smart lady. By the way, how did you get past the dragon on the first level?”
“I don’t know. The ground shook and large rocks fell from the sky and buried it alive. What about it?”
“Oh nothing,” I grinned ear to ear.
When we got to the power plant the security guards were already dead. “They have been dead for a long time…” I muttered gazing at the motionless figures.
We took their guns and crept though the buildings, silently disposing of the ninjas that were soliciting in the hallways. After a while, we came to a large room where the main reactor was. The old man was there talking to another, much taller ninja that wielded a large, bladed whip.
“I have done everything you wanted. What more do you want?” The man shouted.
The dark ninja’s eyes glared as he lifted the old man by his throat. “I want the world,” he whispered devilishly in his ear before launching him across the sky into a control panel.
“Hey!” I shouted. “Pick on someone your own size,” I gulped.
He slowly walked over towards me. “With pleasure!”
He whipped around his chain and lashed the wall with it. The blades got stuck into the wall and pieces of dry wall flung into my eyes. Lizzy shot a spray of bullets, but the ninja out maneuvered her and kicked the gun out of her hand. “Traitor!” He yelled at Lizzy. One of the bullets must have ricocheted and created a spark because the fuel cells started to explode. “Now look what you have done!”
The deafening fire alarms buzzed throughout the building. We continued to fight the master ninja. He started choking on Lizzy like he did the old man and cackled. I caught him off guard and tackled him to the ground. Then I knocked him out with a head butt.
I climbed up the stairs and pulled Lizzy up. “Come on Lizzy! We gotta get out of here!” The whole place was in flames and the reactor was dangerously hot. Any second now the reactor would leak radiation and we would be toast.
Suddenly I took a hard blow to the face. “Leaving so soon? Come on, play with me,” the ninja smirked. Then he struck me in the leg with a shuriken. The pain shocked me and I fell to the ground. Lizzy ran towards me but was pushed away. The ninja bent over and laughed. “What are you going to do now Will Gaver? Are you just going to lay there and bleed?”
I was fuming and the pain gave me a surge of energy. I grabbed the ninja and pulled him over the railing into the Uranium acid below. His body rapidly burned and disintegrated. I grabbed Lizzy’s hand and sprint over the nuclear reactor.
“This is nuts!” Lizzy hollered.
“I know!” I screamed back.
We both jumped over the railing together and we were sucked into the hidden portal that would take us to the final level.

CHAPTER 10- INTO THE ABYSS
We both arrived in a barren wasteland with rivers of hot molten lava flowing from an active volcano. I was dressed in a green cloak with a green stocking cap on top of my head. Lizzy was dressed in a familiar outfit, but it was blue instead. I wielded a gigantic two handed sword with a long, razor sharp blade that glowed with a brilliant light.
“Hey we made it!” I hollered to Lizzy.
“It’s not over yet…” stated Lizzy as she stared at the huge tower in the valley surrounded by a moat of boiling acid.
“Welcome to the final level,” exclaimed Tim in my ear.
“What is this place?” I asked the murky sky.
“This is future,” Tim replied. A cold shiver went down my spine. “This is what is to become of the world unless Mishigoto’s plan is thwarted. In other words, welcome to hell on earth.”
“So, how do we get out of here?” I asked already knowing the answer.
“You have to beat Necroyan, The Lord of Darkness, and then, only then will your minds be free from the game. It will take more than physical strength to beat this guy. His domain is the tall tower in the middle of the valley.”
I looked at Lizzy and she smiled, “What are you waiting for? Lets go get them tiger!”
We drew our swords and started down the valley. It was blistering hot under the sun. The terrain seemed so dark and twisted even during the day, for the smoke and ashes from the volcano shrouded over the land in a thick blanket.
Two demon-like creatures armed with spiked hammers guarded the gate to the valley. Their helmets and boots were forged with iron. They also wore thick steel gauntlets that went up to their elbows. “Stop!” they shouted. “By order of Lord Necroyan, no person is allowed through.”
“But we have an important meeting with Lord Necroyan,” I lied.
“He also said there shall be no exceptions. If you wish to pass, you must face the Imp Force and defeat them in battle.”
“Okay, where are they? Let me at them!” I yelled not knowing that it meant fighting the guards. The guards looked at each other and smirked. Then one swung his hammer at me and cracked the ground with his tool.
The other shot a sharp bladed arrow from his golden longbow. The arrow barely nicked Lizzy in the arm, ripping a small hole in the sleeve of her cloak. She held her arm in pain as her blood soaked into her clothes.
I drop kicked one of the guards and fell on my face. A sharp rock scratched me in the cheek and was stained red from my wound. An imp heaved his hammer towards me and I rolled out of the way. Rocks and dust flew from the impact of the hammer. This was my chance.
I sprung up and drew my sword. I charged at the guards and screamed an earsplitting battle cry. One shot another arrow, but I clashed it with my sword and it flung up high. I continued to charge and stabbed the ground with my sword. I then used it as a pole bolt and hurdled myself into the imps. I plunged the sword into one of their hearts and round house kicked the other one.
“You’ll never beat the Lord of Darkness!” the guard screamed before he died from my blade.
I hurried over to Lizzy. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. You’re head is bleeding Will.” She ripped off part of her sleeve and wrapped it around my head. “There.”
We walked to the large black gate of iron and I cranked it up slowly. Lord Necroyan’s tower was just a few thousand feet below the cliff we were standing on.
I crept ahead to the bridge. A massive army of creatures similar to the imps marched up and down the valley. I turned to signal Lizzy that it was okay to come down, but she was gone. I frantically looked around, but she was nowhere in sight.
Then I heard a cry overhead. “Will! Help me Will! Help me!” I gazed at the sky and watched Lizzy get taken away by an armored fiend riding a terrible red dragon.
I ran out and shouted at the thing. “Hey butter face! Give her back!”
“Give me your soul!” The fiend hissed as the dragon breathed an orb of electrifying energy and blasted it at me. I sprinted as fast as my legs could carry me, the ball pursuing me from behind.
“Use your sword to deflect it!” Tim screamed in my ear.
I drew my sword and turned around, the dark green force of power ready to devour me into oblivion. I swung the blade as it neared me and behold, it flew back in the opposite direction, like a ball bouncing off the ground. The recoil from the strike landed me on my back. I looked at the computer generated overcast above. Lightning lit up the sky as it started to rain.
I couldn’t bear to lose Lizzy. Now, after all the effort I gave to try and rescue her meant nothing. I had to finish my mission. I limped inside the dark tower ahead. The corridors were huge with stone statues of hideous creatures.
The first hall was empty and the statues gave me the creeps. All of them were facing different directions. Something wasn’t right. I could sense it. I chucked a rock to see what would happen. A red beam shot out of one of the statues and disintegrated it before it touched the ground. “Yikes!”
I carefully snuck past the booby trapped corridor and climbed a flight of stairs that spiraled upwards. I passed by a room full of goblins and imps and crossed a pit of acid by jumping rock from rock while avoiding phantom horse riders that galloped through the air. I eventually reached another flight of stairs that seemed to never end. A great red door was at the top and I walked inside.

CHAPTER 11 – THE LORD OF DARKNESS
It was a great throne room where sat a beast that of great power. Its colossal arms wore two spiked iron armlets on each side. It had massive spikes on its back were at least a half a yard long. It had two horns of bronze on top of its head which was covered with jet black hair. It had gargantuan claws and razor sharp teeth that gleamed at his unexpected guest.
"Who dare enters the realm of Lord Necroyan!" It growled.
"Where's Lizzy?" I screamed.
"Who is this Lizzy that you speak of? Oh I’m so sorry! You must be talking about her," he cackled evilly.
Then someone was lowered by an imp from the ceiling. It was Lizzy, all tied up and gagged with a rag inside a small cage.
"That's Lizzy! Let her go!"
"Rwa ha ha ha! What are going to do if I don't let her go little man, fight me?"
"If that's what it takes for you to lay your grubby claws off of her!"
Lord Necroyan exploded into laughter and his eyes gleamed with satisfaction. "Then show me what you got little man."
The monster cried a loud roar that shook the entire tower. The room suddenly transformed into a large battle arena and I could see the stars overhead in the sky. It was just me and him, mono-e-mono.
"Come and get me," he teased.
"Will, don’t let his taunting get the better of you," Tim advised.
"Rwa! Take this!" Necroyan blasted a giant ball of inferno that almost smoked me. I counter-attacked with my roundhouse kicks, but he grabbed me with his giant claws. He breathed on me with his foul breath. "Come on! Is that all you got?"
He seismic tossed me hard onto the ground. "Gwa ha ha! I'm just getting warmed up!" He breathed a ring of fire around the arena. "Now that's hot!"
When I got back up I started to see double. I drew my sword.
"Tim! Tim! I need a little help here!" I shouted.
"Wait until he throws his dark energy wave and hit it again with the sword. Your sword is like a mirror. You can deflect it back at him," Tim explained
"What? You want more?" He extracted a dark sphere of his energy and threw the electrifying force at me. I swung the blade at it and it ricocheted back to him, knocking him off balance.
“Grrrr…” Necroyan roared as he got back up. He started to glow and transformed into the ninja I fought in level two.
“Remember me, Will Gaver? You didn’t think it was going to be this easy did you?” he cackled as he twirled his bladed whip. “I’ll make a promise to you Will. As soon as I’m done with you I’ll take your girlfriend’s spirit too. Now, offer me your soul!”
“Never!” I screamed as I fought the menace once again.
Necroyan created another ball of energy and I reflected it back to him again. Then I plunged the sword into his chest, but he appeared unaffected. He pulled me closer, “Foolish mortal!” Necroyan threw me back.
He yanked the sword out with glee, “Now you are defenseless! Now you are nothing! You shall perish into nothingness and I shall become the ruler of the world! Ha ha ha ha ha! This is no game Will! This is real! And my dear boy you’re looking at the devil himself!” He let out a howl and dashed towards me.
“Tim, a little help wouldn’t hurt!”
“Tim won’t save you now!” Necroyan cried.
“He’s right only you can. The only way to beat this guy is to use your imagination!”
“My what?!”
I closed my eyes and thought of all of the wonderful things of life, of when Tim and I snuck out one night to go midnight paintballing, the time when me and my dad were shooting hoops together, and I thought of Lizzy. “Hmph! I am not afraid of you any more! Come and get some!”
Lord Necroyan stopped, puzzled for a few seconds before drew back the sword.
I picked up my finger and pointed it to him. “Boom, boom, boom,” I chuckled with my eyes still shut.
“Huh?”
KABOOM!
A gigantic explosion occurred as Lord Necroyan flew out of the arena. I opened my eyes to see myself standing alone holding the large photon gun as I did in the first level of the game. “Sweet!”
I breathed out in relief. Lizzy was freed from the cage and ran towards me. However, the ground started to shake and Lord Necroyan came back soaring through the dark sky. “Souls of the dead, grant me your power!” He sucked in the shadows and spirits that floated around us and transformed into a huge demon-like monster, a dark shadow creature with glowing yellow eyes.
“I am the Lord of Darkness! I am Lucifer the fallen archangel of hell!” the beast claimed with a tremendous roar. “I will devour your souls!”
“So this you’re true form, Necroyan!” I shouted at the monster that hovered in midair.
The beast shot laser beams from its eyes, knocking the photon gun out of my hands. “Now you shall lose, remembered only as a memory after I crush every bone in your body!”
I held Lizzy in my arms. “I’ll keep you safe. I promise.” I closed my eyes again and imagined that God would send a shield down to protect us.
“Go ahead and pray to your God! It still won’t help you! What?! No! Impossible!” I heard the monster shriek.
I imagined the sword coming back down and into my hand. I opened my eyes. A red force field surrounded us, saving us from the darkness. I reached out my hand toward the sky and my sword ascended into my palm.
“Impossible! This cannot be!”
“Draw your sword Lizzy and hold it up next to mine whenever I tell you to.”
The force field disappeared and we were now susceptible to his attacks again. This time, I was ready. I have mastered the game.
“Prepare to die Will Gaver!” Lord Necroyan screamed.
“Now!” I shouted to Lizzy as the dark lord casts a bolt of lightning above us. The heat was incredible as the lightning was absorbed into our blades, the extreme intensity of the light blinding me.
“What?! How did you?! Argh-aaaaaah!” Necroyan created a massive orb of dark energy and hurled it towards me.
“Do you trust me?” I yelled toward Lizzy.
“What?”
“Do you trust me?” The wind wailed strongly around us.
“Of course I do!”
“Batter up!” I smiled at her while practicing my swings with the hot, glowing sword.
“Two batters!” Lizzy hollered as she stood by my side. Simultaneously we swung at the gigantic shadow ball with all of our strength. The light left our swords and transferred into the dark orb. It glowed a magnificent white as it returned to Lord Necroyan.
“You may have won this battle, but the war has just begun! Rwaahahaha!” The bright sphere engulfed the monster and in an instant he was gone.
All was silent. Even the wind stopped. The green portal appeared that would take us out of the game.
“It’s over…” I muttered out of breath.
Agent Con dropped her sword and slowly walked over to me. “How did you know that lightning bolt was coming?”
“I just used my imagination,” I grinned.
Then she laid her lips on mine and kissed me, “Tell me. Did you know that was coming?” Her eye twinkled as she smiled delightfully at me before we leaped into the portal.

CHAPTER 12- APOCALYPSE
We were finally out of the game, back in the bright, white room where Tim stood gleaming.
“Wow! What a day, huh?” I laughed cheerfully.
“Let’s stop Mishigoto!” Tim said.
We went out of the building which was oddly empty. The traffic was at a dead standstill. The crescent of the moon, dimmed to an orange tint, loomed over the vast city. A great crowd of people in the streets stared at the huge television screens. Mr. Mishigoto was speaking behind a podium, talking about how great the game was and how it was a giant breakthrough in technology.
“This is the greatest product that E-Corp has ever invented and I foresee that this will blow our competition away as soon as it hits the global market,” he spoke to an U.S. reporter.
“Taxi!” I yelled but nobody stopped.
Lizzy ran out into the street and pulled a gun on a teenager driving a 380 ZX, “Konitchiwa.”
“Whoa dude! I can give you guys a ride, no problem!”
So we all piled in the car and the kid drove us to the city’s conference room.
“Stop! The game will destroy us,” I interrupted after barging in.
“How dare you interrupt us,” Mr. Mishigoto scolded.
All of the board members already had helmets on their heads as part of a demo.
“Take the helmets off. He’ll kill you. He’ll kill you!” shouted Tim.
“They’re all lying, people. There is no threat. It’s just a game. Did you hit your head hard on something?” Mishigoto misinformed.
“We are telling the truth. The game is a mass murder weapon! Don’t you people get it? Millions of people are gonna die. Mishigoto is carrying out a world domination attempt right under your noses and he doesn’t care how many people get in his way," Lizzy stated.
“Get these crazy Americans outta here!” The chairman demanded.
“But were telling the truth!” all three of us shouted in unison.
Mr. Mishigoto lost his temper. “How did you even come out alive you little witch! You’re supposed to be dead!” he screamed at Lizzy. He quickly covered his mouth with his frail, bony hand afterwards.
“Mr.Mishigoto? You tried to murder this young lady? How could you? You’re the crazy psycho that should be taken away! This isn’t some game- its real life. I cannot have such a wicked man such as you working for me,” hollered the chairman on national television. Japanese police rushed on stage but Mishigoto’s minions came from the ceiling, sliding down large cable wires, and fought the police off.
“Hahahahaha! You can’t do this to me! You can’t – I won’t allow it to happen.” There was a long pause of silence before Mishigoto spoke again. “Fine… it looks like I’ll have to do things myself. I’ll die before any of you get out alive. Mark my words!” He grabbed a helmet and slid it on his head. “See you all in hell!” He clicked a button on a remote and lost consciousness.
The conference room was then totally silent. They were all in the game except us and Mishigoto’s followers, which took off into the darkness of the night. Tim and Lizzy both gazed at me.
“No no no! I am not going back in there,” I moaned.
“We’ll I am. They need our help,” Tim replied as he grabbed an extra helmet on the foyer table.
“Me too,” said Lizzy as she did the same.
“Oh alright! One for all and all for one?” I groaned.
Lizzy hugged me, “You’re an alright guy, Will.”
“Thank you ma’am,” I whispered.
“Alright let’s get this party started alright?” Tim laughed.
“Tim, Tim, Tim… What could I do without you buddy? I forgive you man. I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time,” I sobbed as I gave him a good bear hug.
“Thanks Will,” Tim said, gasping for air.
“Alright! Let’s go kick some Mishigoto butt!” I hollered throwing up my fist.
“Game on!” shouted Tim as all three of us attached the helmets to our heads and were sucked into cyber-space once again...

THE END?